Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A solid state drive (SSD) enabled to dynamically change byte addressable NV storage regions to block addressable NV storage regions, the SSD comprising: a first storage region classified as a byte addressable NV storage region; a controller communicatively coupled to the first storage region by a bus, the controller configured to: detect a reduced storage capacity of the first storage region; and in response to the detection, reclassify the first storage region as a block addressable NV storage region.
2. The SSD of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to update, in a register of the controller, metadata related to the reclassification of the first storage region as the block addressable NV storage region.
3. The SSD of claim 1 , further comprising: a second storage region classified as a byte addressable NV storage region.
4. The SSD of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to: store byte addressable data in the first storage region in the second storage region before reclassifying the first storage region as the block addressable NV storage region.
5. The SSD of claim 4 , wherein before reclassifying the first storage region as the block addressable NV storage region, the controller is further configured to: receive first byte addressable data from a host; and store the first byte addressable data in the first storage region.
6. The SSD of claim 5 , wherein after reclassifying the first storage region as the block addressable NV storage region, the controller is further configured to: receive first block addressable data from the host; and store the first block addressable data in the first storage region.
7. The SSD of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to: determine an overwrite occurrence count at the first storage region; and compare the overwrite occurrence count to a threshold.
8. The SSD of claim 7 , wherein the threshold is a predetermined threshold.
9. The SSD of claim 7 , wherein the threshold set by the host.
10. The SSD of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to: initiate an error correction sequence; determine a number of errors in the first storage region; and compare the number of errors to a threshold.
11. The SSD of claim 1 , wherein the first storage region is implemented as a phase change memory (PCM), magnetic random access memory MRAM), or resistive random access memory (ReRAM).
12. A method for extending the life of a solid state drive (SSD) including a first storage region and a controller communicatively coupled to the first storage region, the method including: detecting, by the controller, a reduced storage capacity of the first storage region of the SSD, where the first storage region is a byte addressable NV storage region; and in response to the detection, reclassifying, by the controller, the first storage region as a block addressable NV storage region.
13. The method of claim 12 , the method further comprising: updating, in a register of the controller, metadata related to the reclassification of the first storage region as the block addressable NV storage region.
14. The method of claim 12 , the method further comprising: storing byte addressable data in the first storage region in a second storage region of the SSD before reclassifying the first storage region as the block addressable NV storage region.
15. The method of claim 14 , the method further comprising: before reclassifying the first storage region as the block addressable NV storage region: receiving first byte addressable data from a host; and storing the first byte addressable data in the first storage region.
16. The method of claim 15 , the method further comprising: after reclassifying the first storage region as the block addressable NV storage region: receiving first block addressable data from the host; and storing the first block addressable data in the first storage region.
17. The method of claim 12 , the method further comprising: determining, by the controller, an overwrite occurrence count at the first storage region; and comparing the overwrite occurrence count to a threshold.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein comparing the overwrite occurrence count to the threshold comprises comparing the overwrite occurrence count to a predetermined threshold.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein comparing the overwrite occurrence count to the threshold comprises comparing the overwrite occurrence count to a threshold set by a host.
20. The method of claim 12 , the method further comprising: initiating an error correction sequence; determining a number of errors in the first storage region; and comparing the number of errors to a threshold.
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May 11, 2021
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